﻿Gratitude Gourmet(tM)﻿

We're a big fan of Pereg Spices - Did you know they carry some uncommon spices like Hilbeh, Sumac, and Luisa Leaves? Read more about them below and spice up your meals and tea!

Hilbeh - Also known as fenugreek, methya, menthya, vendayam, menthulu, uluva, uluhaal and methi. In Persia it is known as shanbalîleh. The name hilbeh is Arabic. It has a very light bitter and spicy taste (which might require getting used to). It is commonly used in Indian cuisine and is said to help improve digestion, increase libido, and treat hormonal disorders.Sumac - The sumac bush, native to the Middle East, produces deep red berries, which are dried and ground into coarse powder. Less commonly, the berries may also be sold whole. Ground sumac is a versatile spice with a tangy lemony flavor, although more balanced and less tart than lemon juice. A small sprinkle also adds a beautiful pop of color to any dish. Sumac is one of the main components in the spice mix za'atar. It's great over vegetables. Ground sumac also makes a nice, flavorful topping on dips like hummus and has been used across the globe for its medicinal properties. Research has shown that health benefits of sumac are many, as it is naturally anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory.Luisa Leaves - Luisa is sold under several names, the most common being lemon verbena. It can be found as prepared tea (bags), as loose tea, and as dried leaves. Luisa is believed to help one relax, aids in digestion, soothes menstrual pains and cramps and aids in kidney function. The leaves are used to add a lemon flavor to vegetable marinades, salad dressings, jams, puddings, Greek yogurt and beverages. It also is used to make herbal teas, or added to standard teain place of actual lemon (as is common with Moroccan tea). It can also be used to make a sorbet.Enjoy!

SAJJ Mediterranean fast casual restaurant with delicious, fresh, locally sourced, and customizable Middle Eastern Cuisine is now open in Sunnyvale. There are currently SAJJ locations in San Francisco, San Jose, Menlo Park and Mountain View, plus two food trucks.

We met with CEO Zaid Ayoub and CHEF Loay Alhindi where they described the menu concept and the numerous selection of vegetarian and vegan items. They are even willing to share their Falafel Recipe if you ask! It's like open source for food :) Also they have no front or back of the house personnel. Everybody touches the customer!

Heavenly Organics™, manufacturer of 100% Organic, Raw, Pesticide and Antibiotic Free Honey from wild beehives has met the BioChecked™ ZERO Tolerance Standard and is pleased to announce that its White, Neem and Acacia honey varietals are now Glyphosate Free Certified™. Heavenly Organics honey has been scientifically proven to be clean and contaminant free of pesticides. The company has met and agreed to submit to regular independent lab testing for its honey and is the first honey on the market to be Glyphosate Free Certified™.

Glyphosate is an herbicide that is applied to the leaves of plants to kill both broadleaf plants and grasses. Glyphosate was first registered for use in the U.S. in 1974 and is one of the most widely used herbicides. Glyphosate is the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup weed-killer and hundreds of other products. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a risk assessment for glyphosate to determine if future use should be limited.

Currently, there is no “maximum residue limit” (MRL) or tolerance level set for glyphosate found in honey in the U.S. In 2016, all U.S. honey samples, even organic brands, tested by the FDA contained glyphosate residues. Some of the honey showed residue levels double the limit allowed in the European Union, per documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Glyphosate is considered by the World Health Organization to be a probable human carcinogen.

The growing concern for the safety of the food people are ingesting and the detrimental impacts these pesticides are having on both our health and our environment are critical issues, and Heavenly Organics has been leading the charge and setting the bar for contaminant-free honey.

“We couldn’t be more excited to announce that we are Glyphosate Free Certified™,” said Co-founder and CEO of Heavenly Organics, Amit Hooda. “We hope this partnership with BioChecked™, brings even more awareness to the use of pesticides and how they are having a negative impact on human health, the environment, and bee colonies worldwide. The government needs to set a tolerance level for glyphosate found in honey and create a universal labeling system, because people have the right to know what’s in their food.”

In contrast to the honey being affected by these pesticides and chemicals, Heavenly Organics sources its raw and organic honey from wild beehives located in the untouched forests of Northern and Central India and parts of the Himalayas, for the absolute purest and most delicious honey on the market. Since these naturally occurring, wild beehives are found in such remote areas, the bees are far from the reach of pesticides and other pollutants. Also, since Heavenly Organics’ proprietary honey collection method is bee-friendly and smoke free, the company is proud to say that they protect approximately 500 million bees per year. Heavenly Organics Raw Honey is 100% Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified, which is unattainable in most regions today.

BioChecked™ has several independent third party certification programs for producers that want to become leaders in environmental and health friendly actions. BioChecked™ brands have become the leading industry “Marks of Consumer Environmental and Health Awareness.”

Heavenly Organics was founded in 2005 to help sustain the economic and cultural survival of indigenous people located in remote and conflicted areas of Northern and Central India and parts of the Himalayas. The company was built on the belief that the only way to eliminate conflict is to provide ethical job opportunities. Heavenly Organics’ products not only provide healthier alternatives that taste amazing but that are changing people’s lives, transforming the supply chain and offering a unique business model that can help foster peace in conflict areas.

EAT WITH INTENTION http://cassandrabodzak.com/ by Cassandra Bodzak is a beautiful healthy living cookbook that combines daily meditation with plant based recipes.

Her Radiance Juice Recipe and Radiant Heart Meditation is below.

Radiance Juice (pg. 67)Beauty starts from within and permeates outward. Thinking thoughts that nourish your soul and eating foods that nourish your body are more effective than the most luxurious makeup money can buy. You can’t fake true radiance. This juice is packed with nutrients that will get you glowing from the inside out! Pineapple juice promotes healthy skin and helps prevent acne; watercress is also great for your overall health with its high levels of vitamin C; and cucumber has cooling and moisturizing properties.

RADIANT HEART MEDITATIONIn this exercise, we are going to pull energy into our heart center and allow it to saturate everycell of our being, filling us with light and allowing our inner radiance to pour outward as itoverflows.Begin by sitting in easy pose and breathing long and deep. Close your eyes and focus on yourheart center while using your hands to slowly and steadily pull the energy surrounding you intoyour heart. Your hands should stay at heart height and move from the sides of your bodyinward, as if you are catching a ball and bringing it into your heart. Feel the light in your heartexpand and grow brighter with each motion. Continue for at least 3 minutes, gradually buildingup to 11 minutes. Take a deep breath in and bring your hands into your heart, right palm on topof left. Feel the energy pulsing through your heart center and allow it to distribute throughoutyour entire being. Imagine it filling up each cell with its loving light energy. Exhale.Yield: 1 servingINGREDIENTS½ cup (17 g) watercress2 cucumbers, peeled2 limes, peeled1 cup (166 g) pineapple chunks1. Starting with the watercress, juice all the ingredients into a large glass.2. Lightly stir and serve immediately“My beauty radiates from within.”

Radiance Juice (pg. 67)Roald Dahl famously said: “If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face likesunbeams and you will always look lovely.” I couldn’t agree more. Beauty starts from within andpermeates outward. Thinking thoughts that nourish your soul and eating foods that nourishyour body are more effective than the most luxurious makeup money can buy. You can’t faketrue radiance. This juice is packed with nutrients that will get you glowing from the inside out!Pineapple juice promotes healthy skin and helps prevent acne; watercress is also great for youroverall health with its high levels of vitamin C; and cucumber has cooling and moisturizingproperties.

RADIANT HEART MEDITATIONIn this exercise, we are going to pull energy into our heart center and allow it to saturate everycell of our being, filling us with light and allowing our inner radiance to pour outward as itoverflows.Begin by sitting in easy pose and breathing long and deep. Close your eyes and focus on yourheart center while using your hands to slowly and steadily pull the energy surrounding you intoyour heart. Your hands should stay at heart height and move from the sides of your bodyinward, as if you are catching a ball and bringing it into your heart. Feel the light in your heartexpand and grow brighter with each motion. Continue for at least 3 minutes, gradually buildingup to 11 minutes. Take a deep breath in and bring your hands into your heart, right palm on topof left. Feel the energy pulsing through your heart center and allow it to distribute throughoutyour entire being. Imagine it filling up each cell with its loving light energy. Exhale.Yield: 1 servingINGREDIENTS½ cup (17 g) watercress2 cucumbers, peeled2 limes, peeled1 cup (166 g) pineapple chunks1. Starting with the watercress, juice all the ingredients into a large glass.2. Lightly stir and serve immediately“My beauty radiates from within.”

FOR EARTH DAY AND EVERY DAY, THE GLORIA BARRON PRIZE FOR YOUNG HEROESENCOURAGES KIDS TO SAVE THE PLANET

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes celebrates inspiring, public-spirited young people from diverse backgrounds all across North America. Established in 2001 by author T.A. Barron, the Barron Prize annually honors 25 outstanding young leaders ages 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive impact on people, animals or the environment. The top fifteen winners each receive $5,000 to support their service work or higher education. For more information, visit www.barronprize.orgApplyThe Barron Prize welcomes applications from public-spirited young people who are, on our April 15 deadline:

between the ages of 8 and 18 (not yet age 19)

permanent residents of and currently residing in the U.S.A. or Canada

currently working on an inspiring service project or have done so within the past 12 months

working as an individual to lead their service work. The Barron Prize does not accept applications from large groups of young people.

Here are some of the great things the recent honorees have done to help the Earth and wildlife:

Alison age 17, California Alison founded Purses for Primates, a non-profit that has raised over $27,000 to protect orangutans and their shrinking habitat. She collects gently-used handbags from across the U.S., resells them at fundraising events, and donates 100% of the proceeds to Orangutan Outreach, a New York City-based conservation group. She is a founding member of the group’s extensive children’s program, Forest School 101, and serves as the program’s current ambassador.

Delaney age 16, Florida Delaney founded The Sink or Swim Project to educate young people and adults about the growing risks of global warming and sea level rise. A resident of Miami, where sea level rise is already evident, she gathered data from places like NASA and NOAA to create several PowerPoint presentations, which she has delivered to over 10,000 children, senior citizens, and policy makers. National Geographic recently recorded one of her presentations for their Years of Living Dangerously TV show, to air later this year.

Hannah age 15, FloridaHannah invented a device that converts the kinetic energy of ocean tides into usable electricity. Her BEACON -- Bringing Electricity Access to Countries through Ocean eNergy -- is made from 90% recycled materials easily found throughout the world, including 2-liter bottles and recycled spoons. The device costs $12 to make and can produce enough electricity to power an LED light bulb. Hannah envisions BEACON being used in developing countries to power desalination pumps (for fresh water), run centrifuges (to test blood), and power electric buoys (for maritime navigation).

Martin age 15, New YorkMartin created Save the Seals, a campaign to raise awareness about the plight of harp seal pups and the Arctic ecosystem as a whole. He has raised nearly $17,000 for the Humane Society of the United States’ Protect Seals program by creating and selling seal-themed crafts. He has made over 4,000 bracelets and over 3,000 polymer clay seals that he uses in his key chains, ornaments, and figurines. In selling his wares at craft shows, Martin speaks with hundreds of people about the seal hunt, its causes, and its cruelty. He explains that 98% of the seals killed are under three months of age, not yet able to swim or walk and helpless in the face of hunters.

Maya age 17, Ontario, CanadaMaya created 400 PPM, a documentary film that tells the story of her expedition to the Arctic where she witnessed climate change firsthand. She titled her film for the 2013 atmospheric measurement of carbon dioxide at 400 parts per million (ppm), the highest levels in more than 2.5 million years. Her film focuses on the Arctic’s Inuit people, whose lives have been dramatically impacted by a warming climate and melting ice. She produced her film through STAMx Youth Inc., a non-profit she founded to use Science, Technology, Arts, and Math to empower young people to take action against climate change.

Story age 17, Washington Story created Kids4Wolves to educate young people about wolves and to promote coexistence between wolf advocates and those who oppose wolf recovery. She does much of her outreach online via her website’s blog and Instagram account, where nearly every day, she posts facts, photos, and wolf updates for nearly 20,000 followers.

Xerxes age 17, New York Xerxes led a four-year project to mitigate water contamination caused by a farm’s animal waste leaching into New York City’s public reservoir system. He overhauled the farm’s vast gutter and sewer network to redirect two tons of manure each year. His work at Muscoot Farm, a 777-acre county-run farm populated by rare breeds of cows, pigs, and chickens, also included clearing entire fields of invasive plants and protecting native bird species. Additionally, he and his team of 125 volunteers created a ¼ mile educational nature trail and constructed a hands-on environmental learning center to serve the farm’s 135,000 visitors each year.

Desmund age 13, CaliforniaDesmond created Protecting Our Birds in order to preserve and create bird habitat, especially in urban settings, and to educate others about ways to help birds. For the past four years, he has built and monitored bluebird nesting boxes, with his 21 boxes producing 163 fledglings this year.He has presented talks for Audubon chapters, schools, and libraries, reaching nearly 1,000 people. He raised nearly $1,000 to protect a local canyon and wildlife corridor by photographing as many species of birds as he could in one day and collecting donations from Audubon Society members for each bird photographed.

Hannah age 13, GeorgiaHannah has created a number of initiatives to inspire others to join her in protecting animals and the environment. As a ten-year-old, she raised several thousand dollars in a single evening for the non-profit Save the Horses by organizing a movie night attended by over 300 people.She has created a presentation about plastics pollution and has shared it with nearly 1,000 people, including the Governor of Georgia. She has also convinced a number of local restaurants to switch to an “upon request” policy regarding plastic drinking straws and drink covers.

Isabella and Willow age 10, ColoradoTwins Isabella and Willow founded Kids Saving Elephants to educate others about the plight of African elephants and to raise money to help fight the ivory trade. They have raised thousands of dollars by selling their handmade elephant greeting cards, lemonade, and cookies at the Aspen Music Festival and Saturday Market each summer, spreading their conservation message to hundreds of people.

PITTSBURGH: Chatham University today announced a new awards program and scholarship for high school and community college students that celebrates the legacy of scientist, author, environmentalist and Chatham alumna Rachel Carson, class of 1929.The Rachel Carson Healthy Planet Awardwill be awarded to one deserving student nominated from each high school and community college throughout the United States, who embodies the spirit of Rachel Carson in his or her dedication to sustainability and community development. Healthy Planet Award recipients will also receive preferred consideration for the Rachel Carson Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship to attend Chatham University.“Rachel Carson has been an inspiration and a catalyst for Chatham’s embrace of sustainability in our mission, our programs and throughout the larger university,” said David Finegold, president of Chatham University. “The Rachel Carson Healthy Planet Award & Scholarship was created to honor and extend her legacy, inspiration and impact to a new generation of leaders who will help complete her vision of healthier people and a healthier planet.”Carson rose to prominence with her book, Silent Spring, as a trailblazing voice questioning the resulting impact of pesticides on people, animals and the environment. This call to attention was a catalyst of the environmental movement that has helped bring awareness and action to the ecological programs our planet faces, and led to her selection as one of Time Magazine’s most influential people of the 20th century.Award & Scholarship DetailsWinners of the Rachel Carson Healthy Planet Award will receive a a special edition of Carson’s book Silent Spring, a certificate of achievement, a $5,000 merit scholarship to attend Chatham University, and an invitation (with discounted price) to Chatham’s Sustainable Leadership Academy, scheduled for July 30-August 5, 2017. The deadline for nominations is April 2, 2017. For more information about the award or to nominate a student, visit www.chatham.edu/rachel-carson-award.Healthy Planet Award recipients will also receive preferred consideration for the Rachel Carson Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship to attend Chatham University. The scholarship is awarded each year to one new first-year student and one new transfer student from a community college. Applicants must meet all scholarship requirements and be accepted to Chatham in order to qualify for a scholarship interview. The deadline for the scholarship is April 1, 2017 for community college students and November 1, 2017 for high school seniors. More information is available at www.chatham.edu/scholarships.Carson’s work also inspired Chatham’s commitment to advancing sustainability education, implementation and research. Carson’s thinking and devotion to improve the world are just two of the qualities Chatham’s Falk School of Sustainability & Environment works to bring to life through its students. Housed at Chatham’s Eden Hall campus, the world’s first academic community built from below the ground up for the study of sustainability, the Falk School offers academic programs dedicated to producing professional sustainability leaders. Programs currently being offered at the bachelor’s and master’s levels include: Bachelor of Sustainability (BSUS), Master of Arts in Food Studies (MAFS), Master of Sustainability (MSUS) and the dual-degree Master of Sustainability-Master of Business Administration (MSUS-MBA).About Chatham University

Chatham is the alma mater of environmental icon, Rachel Carson, and is recognized today as a leader in sustainability and environmental education perennial named to top green college lists and is ranked in the top five nationally for sustainability achievements in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS), placing us as one of the top 5 highest ranked colleges in the world. Chatham is also home to the Falk School of Sustainability & Environment, and in 2014 opened Eden Hall Campus, the first campus in the world built from the ground up for the study of sustainability. More information at www.chatham.edu.

Created for Zin lovers by Zin lovers, Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP), a non-profit 501(c)(3) association, brings Zinfandel education and appreciation to the public each year at their annual ZinEX event. ZAP’s mission is to advance knowledge of and appreciation for American Zinfandel and its unique place in our culture and history. Members include winegrowers, winemakers and wine enthusiasts. We at Gratitude Gourmet greatly enjoy attending the Grand Tasting. More information about ZinEX and Tickets here: ZinfandelExperience.com

Pereg Natural Foods (pereg-gourmet.com), debuts a new line of Kaňiwa (babyquinoa), an excellent source of complete protein and amino acids, exceptionally high in iron and is gluten-free, and offers a nutrient rich food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. BabyQuinoa – 5 ounce boxes & resealable 16 oz. bagsDark reddish-brown in color and about half the size of a tiny quinoa seed, kañiwa cooks up quickly to resemble a smaller version of red quinoa. Unlike regular quinoa, kañiwa doesn’t have saponins, the coating that gives quinoa a somewhat soapy, slightly bitter flavor if not rinsed properly. Kañiwa is actually easier to process due to the absence of saponins. (Note that all quinoa from Pereg is pre-rinsed and ready to cook from the package.) Another advantage kañiwa has over quinoa is that it’s an even better source of iron. Retail: 5 oz. boxes ($3.57); Re-sealable 16 oz. bags ($5.50).